A recent study on 805 women aged 13-35 has revealed that nearly 47% of women on public transport experience sexual harassment.
The findings of the study conducted by Aachol Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Dhaka, was revealed at a virtual press conference on Friday.
The research says around 60.9% of the participants were touched by bus conductors without consent on the pretext of “help”.
63.4% of participants harassed in six months
Of the participants, 63.4% reported that they had been subjected to various forms of harassment on public transport in the last six months.
Some 46.5% said they had been sexually harassed, while 15.3% reported being bullied.
Around 20.4% of women who had been sexually harassed said they had been harassed by a vehicle driver’s assistant or helper. Meanwhile, 3% of the participants said they had been harassed by hawkers on the streets or on vehicles, and 1.6% by drivers.
Furthermore, 15.2% of the women reported experiencing social discrimination, and 14.9% reported experiencing gender inequality.
On top of that, 8.2% of the women said they had been subjected to body shaming.
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Middle-aged men ‘biggest culprit’
Around 61.7% said they had been harassed by men aged between 40 and 59 more than any other age group.
Meanwhile, 36.3% reported being harassed by teenagers and young adult men.
Unwanted touching
About 60.9% of women said assistants of public transport drivers had touched them without consent while getting on or off the vehicles.
Among them, 24.6% reported experiencing unwanted touches by men in the last six months.
Harassment in the crowd
Some 30.8% of the participants said they had been touched in a crowd despite men having enough room.
As many as 14.2% reported being pushed intentionally while standing and 13.8% reported experiencing vulgar comments or verbal harassment.
Most remain silent
Around 34.8% of women said they had remained silent and had not spoken up against their abuser in fear, while 20.4% said they had stopped using public transportation.
While being harassed, 4.2% asked for help from other passengers, while only 0.5% took legal action over the incident.
However, 36.9% of women said their fellow passengers had completely ignored the incident despite clearly witnessing it, while 2% said the other passengers had instead supported the harasser.
Although 62.4% of women knew about the 999 helpline, only 2.5% sought help.
21.2% of women traumatized
According to the study, 21.2% of participants were traumatized due to sexual harassment while using public transportation.
Public transportation stokes fear among 29.4% of women.
Meanwhile, 16.4% reported suffering from an inferiority complex, and 13.6% from depression.
Women-centred services
Some 97.6% of women who took part in the survey opined that as the number of women in workplaces had increased, the number of transport services reserved for women should also be increased.
Around 94% said the seats reserved for women also needed to be increased.
Tansen Rose, founding president of Aachol Foundation, said violence against women was on the rise, be it at home, on the road, or on public transport.
Prof Md Ismail Hossain of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology said: "The picture that emerges from this survey clearly shows that we have to tackle this problem by fixing our morals first."
"Insecurity is a big issue for a woman," said Samira Akhtar Siam, general secretary of Aachol Foundation, before adding that if women faced this type of harassment during their daily commute, they would suffer from severe mental health issues.